Scottish League Cup Final: Aberdeen captain Russell Anderson says cup glory was the furthest thing from his mind when he returned to Pittodrie

THE 35-year-old Aberdonian could claim his first winners' medal in the Scottish League Cup final at Celtic Park on Sunday - a prospect he did not think about when he was trying to keep his career alive.

Aberdeen captain and scorer Russell Anderson celebrates at the end of their Scottish Cup fifth round win at Celtic Park

RUSSELL ANDERSON admits the possibility of winning a trophy was the last thing on his mind when he returned for a second spell at Aberdeen just over two years ago.

The defender came through the ranks at Pittodrie to become captain of the Granite City club before leaving in 2007 to join Sunderland in a £1million move.

However, he failed to make an impact on Wearside and had loan spells at Plymouth and Burnley before moving on to Derby County in 2010 where again he was hampered by injuries before his contract was cancelled by mutual consent in December the following year.

Anderson, capped 11 times for Scotland, returned to Aberdeen to continue his rehabilitation from a hamstring injury and was handed a contract by then manager Craig Brown in January, 2012, and reinstated as captain.

The Aberdonian, now 35, has never looked back and now looks forward to winning his first winners' medal against Inverness in the Scottish League Cup final at Celtic Park on Sunday - a prospect he did not think about when he was trying to keep his career alive.

He said: "It is probably the furthest thing from your mind when you have been injured for a while and you are trying to get fit and you are not even sure if you are going to get a contract at that stage.

"It is one of the most important games of my career and I am looking forward to it."

Anderson, like the 40,000 Dons fans who will travel down to the east end of Glasgow, is well aware that it is 19 years since Aberdeen last won a trophy.

Having just joined the club as a youngster, he was at Hampden to see the Dons beat Dundee 2-0 in the final of the Scottish League Cup in 1995.

"It was my first full season at the club," he said. "Just being part of the club at the time when they won the cup was really good.

"They played well that day and deserved to win and you could see how much it meant to the supporters.

"We are overwhelmed with the support we will see on Sunday and hopefully the players will embrace that when they come out and see how many supporters are rooting for us. I would like to think it will give them an extra spring in their step."

Anderson played in the last two finals Aberdeen were involved in and, understandably, his memories are hazier.

He was in the Dons side which lost 2-0 to Celtic in the 2000 Scottish League Cup final and in the 4-0 defeat by Rangers in the Scottish Cup final the same season.

He said: "The day of the cup final just goes that quickly it ends up being a blur.